On the surface, The Homecoming and Mud are vastly different plays based their overall diverging themes. The Homecoming deals with power dynamics of family members, family values, and female control. Mud, on the other hand, focuses on the power dynamics between three individuals, the fear of loneliness, and escape from monotony. The endings of both plays contain different sensations, as one has a creepy ambiance, while the other leaves a depressing and tragic outlook on life. However, they both do share similar messages overall of taking control of life, as they Ruth and Mae both attempt to control the situation that surrounds them. Even so, the theme of controlling your life divert to distinguish the overall sensation that the audience is supposed
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Lloyd and Henry’s desire to keep Mae in the house is created out of their fear of loneliness. By them screaming out, “Don’t go, Mae,” “Don’t go,” and, “Stay, Mae,” (Fornes 1361) they also fear change. Their unwillingness to let go of their fears and the departure of Mae, unfortunately, leads to Mae’s death. Mae, on the other hand, does not fear to be alone or allowing change to occur. Throughout the play, Mae desires to experience something other than the abusive and grotesque nature of Lloyd. When Henry enters the play, Mae experiences a shimmer of hope of something refreshing. She experiences romance with Henry and begins to treat him like a husband, which is something that she was never able to experience with Lloyd. However, this shimmer of light quickly dimmed, as Henry became a monotonous chore after he became paralyzed. Therefore, Mae felt that she needed to escape from her miserable environment to a place where she didn’t constantly have her, “blood sucked.” (Fornes …show more content…
It is faint and yet it consumes me. I long for it. I thirst for it. I would die for it.” (Fornes 1362) The darkness she describes is her miserable environment, whereas the light is the change that she seeks to achieve. Furthermore, Mae mentions that she is willing to die to experience the sense of liberation from her current situation. Her reality has become so bad that she was willing to escape her current existence by experiencing death. Death, to Mae, was an experience that would enable her to free herself from the gloominess of her natural reality. Her willingness to not fear but accept death is reminiscent of John Keats’ Ode to a Nightingale. In Ode to a Nightingale, Keats’ speaker becomes infatuated with the idea of death and begins to ponder if death is better than his natural existence. Throughout the poem, the speaker, like Mae, is unhappy by his current reality, as he views his existence as monotonous and gloomy. Through the idea of death, Keats’ speaker believes that death will grant him the joy and sense of rebirth he seeks to obtain. The idea of death, for Mae, gives her a new sense of control of life. I’m not certain if she would have or if she had contemplated suicide to escape the dull reality she had to endure. However, her mentioning that, “I would die for it,” (Fornes 1362) makes me also wonder if she knew deep down that she
Lloyd and Henry’s desire to keep Mae in the house is created out of their fear of loneliness. By them screaming out, “Don’t go, Mae,” “Don’t go,” and, “Stay, Mae,” (Fornes 1361) they also fear change. Their unwillingness to let go of their fears and the departure of Mae, unfortunately, leads to Mae’s death. Mae, on the other hand, does not fear to be alone or allowing change to occur. Throughout the play, Mae desires to experience something other than the abusive and grotesque nature of Lloyd. When Henry enters the play, Mae experiences a shimmer of hope of something refreshing. She experiences romance with Henry and begins to treat him like a husband, which is something that she was never able to experience with Lloyd. However, this shimmer of light quickly dimmed, as Henry became a monotonous chore after he became paralyzed. Therefore, Mae felt that she needed to escape from her miserable environment to a place where she didn’t constantly have her, “blood sucked.” (Fornes …show more content…
It is faint and yet it consumes me. I long for it. I thirst for it. I would die for it.” (Fornes 1362) The darkness she describes is her miserable environment, whereas the light is the change that she seeks to achieve. Furthermore, Mae mentions that she is willing to die to experience the sense of liberation from her current situation. Her reality has become so bad that she was willing to escape her current existence by experiencing death. Death, to Mae, was an experience that would enable her to free herself from the gloominess of her natural reality. Her willingness to not fear but accept death is reminiscent of John Keats’ Ode to a Nightingale. In Ode to a Nightingale, Keats’ speaker becomes infatuated with the idea of death and begins to ponder if death is better than his natural existence. Throughout the poem, the speaker, like Mae, is unhappy by his current reality, as he views his existence as monotonous and gloomy. Through the idea of death, Keats’ speaker believes that death will grant him the joy and sense of rebirth he seeks to obtain. The idea of death, for Mae, gives her a new sense of control of life. I’m not certain if she would have or if she had contemplated suicide to escape the dull reality she had to endure. However, her mentioning that, “I would die for it,” (Fornes 1362) makes me also wonder if she knew deep down that she